Nevada City Dirt Classic race #3

[Greg Alsterlind]

This the last of a 3 race series held by the Youth Bicyclist of Nevada County. The group has a different location for each race. Race 3 was on the Hallelujah trail, 95%. Fast Single track. I decided to take 2 1/2 hr. drive up the morning of rather than go the day before. Parking and checking in was made easy by a great staff and I was ready to preride the well marked 5.8 mile trail by 8:45. They had a very short (50 yard) climb at the start and then straight into down hill single track. I was once again on my Trek Top Fuel full suspension with a seat dropper but most riders had hard tails . The course drops at an easy slope for about the first mile and then you start up a long semi-techencal climb that takes you past the two mile mark. Once at the top you have a fairly flat single track with one short 100 yard climb before the long trip down. The long down hill ends in a rock garden with a short techencal climb out. The last mile of single track was mostly fast rolling and easy. My race plan was to get up front early and use the wider sections on the hill for passing. I was concerned about getting behind slower riders in the rock garden but was not sure exactly what to do if that happened ( it did!). They Lined up the Pro/Cat 1 riders first. Not knowing anyone in this group I ended up next to Jose Beccerra ( 2nd place 19-39) , Dan Goldsmith and Craig Lindberg of Republic Pub Race team. Our start was fast and I didn't get as far to the front as I wanted (8 back). I stay behind Dan as we made of way down. When we hit the first long hil Jesse Warda ( 2nd place 40-49) and Jose where only a few feet from Dan, Me and Jon Pritchett ( 3rd place 40-49). Once at the top things started to open up. The five us stay together and opened up a gap on the rest of CAT 1 as we hit the 100 yard hill. I decided to sprint past Dan, Jose and Jon. Jesse Warda had the same idea and I could not catch him before we started the long down hill. This turned out to be costly. Jesse was fast enough to stay with until we hit the rock garden. He slowed way down and within 15 seconds Jon caught back up. As we got close to the climb Jon started yelling gear down for the climb! Jesse made could not and jumped off right in front of me. My bike got tangled with his and Jon joined the mix make thing worse. Next thing I know Dan rides past us as I struggle to free my bike. Once back on the bike I managed to get back on Dan wheel but Jesse was once again ahead of us. Dan and I stayed with each other for the first two laps until we hit the rock garden on the 3rd. I got a Strava over #6 though it and it was enough to give me a 12 second lead into our final lap. I was feeling strong but my stomach was starting to feel ill from the 2 packs of shot blocks I had been eating. This was where my day turned from I can win this to just hang on. Dan passed me in the first 100 yards and the next time I saw him was at the finish. My down hill made of for my climbing failure and I managed to not get passed by anyone else. Still learning and still having fun. This was one race I was very glad to have made and hope to do again next year.